Drier for casein-curd.



PATENTED SEPT. 11, 1906.

L. AXTELL.

DRIER FOR GASEIN GURD.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 11, 190a,

INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

WITNESSES? mm M mi.

UTED STATES LUCIUS AXTELL, OF ROCKROYAL, NEIV YORK.

DRIER FOR CASElN-QURD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 11, 1906.

Application filed November 11.1905. Serial No. 286.839;

To all w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIUS AXTELL, of Rockroyal, in the county of Delaware and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of Drying Casein-Curd, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in the art of drying casein-curd and in an apparatus which is particularly adapted for this use and which may be used for drying other substances which require similar treatment, the apparatus and the method being so closely related that they really constitute one invention.

The most successful way of treating caseincurd is to dry the matter on horizontal screens which are held in an oven and over which hot air is blown. Attempts have been made to dry the material in rotary screens, but owing to its gluey nature it rolls up into balls or cylinders and is therefore not fit for commercial use.

The object of my invention is to provide a more rapid system of drying than is usual and at the same time preserve the theory of the horizontal screen to the end that commercial casein can be cheaply and nicely produced. In carrying out this idea I use a casing in which are a series of horizontal conveyers, which, beginning at the top, travel in opposite directions and deliver one upon the other and which has provision for introducing hot air at both ends of the casing and of exhausting it from several points midway of the casing and between the conveyers, so that as the casein-curd is carried through from conveyer to conveyer the inrushing air blows inward from both ends, so that the material is not permitted to drop from the conveyers, while at the same time it is effectively dried. I am aware that there is nothing new in horizontal conveyers inclosed in casings; but I am not aware that this scheme for blowing the hot air into it from both ends and eX- hausting it between the conveyers has ever been used, and it is this arrangement for handling the material and the method of treating it which keeps it separated in commercial shape and at the same time quickly dries it.

WVith these ends in view my invention con sists of improvements in the art of drying casein-curd and similar material which will be hereinafter described and the novel features claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the views.

Figure 1 is a broken side elevation of the apparatus which I employ, and Fig. 2 .is a sectional plan of the same.

In carrying out my invention I employ a casing 10, which can be of any approved type or form, but which has preferably a troughlike construction 11* at one end, so that the curd can be here received ready to be carried to the conveyers, and also the upper part of the casing'at this end is preferably raised, as shown at 11 to provide for conveniently delivering the curd to the upper conveyer 19, to be hereinafter referred to. The casing is provided at opposite ends with intake-pipes 12 and 12 through which hot air is blown, and the air is exhausted through the side ports 13, which are arranged between the runs of the several conveyers 19 and the size of which in relation to the pipes 12 is such as to provide for an equal outlet of air through the several holes, so that the air-pressure in various parts of the casing will be similar.

This provides for an efficient and even drying.

In the upper part 11 of the casing is a trans verse shaft 14, which carries the elevator, to be hereinafter referred to, and which is driven by asprocket-wheel 15, which in turn is driven by a chain 16, extending downward to the drive-shaft 17, and the latter is provided with a suitable driving-pulley 1S. (Shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.) The chain 16 also drives the series of small sprocketwheels 19, which drive the several transverse pulleys 20, these being arranged near one another at one end of the casing, and they carry the horizontal belts or conveyers 21, which at the opposite ends run over idlers 22. These several conveyers are placed close together, but far enough apart to permit a circulation of air between them, and they are staggered, as shown in Fig. 1that is, the top conveyer or belt 21 delivers at one end upon the next lower belt, which moves in the opposite direction, and at the front end delivers again upon the third belt, and so on, the belts being of practically equal length, but alternated, as shown in the drawings, so that one shall deliver upon the next below.

I do not limit myself to any particular means of driving the belts or conveyers or of delivering the casein-curd upon them; but I supplied, the

preferably use some form of elevator which can conveniently be that shownin the drawings, this elevator comprising the belt 23, which runs over a suitable pulley at top and bottom of the casing and is provided with ordinary slat buckets 24:. This will raise the curd and deposit it upon the top belt or conveyer 21, and the deposition will be'steady and in small quantities, so that a thin even layer will be spread out on the conveyer.

The curd can be supplied to the troughlike part 11 of the casing in any convenient wayas, for instance, by means of a screw conveyer 25, which I have shown running into the casing. Suitable inlet and outlet 26 and 27 can be arranged to feed and remove the curds, as shown in Fig. 1. Obviously, however, the means of introducing the curd and of removing the dried material is not very essential, and any usual means can be employed.

When the a paratus is started and curd is latter is raised, as already described, and deposited upon the top horizontal conveyer or belt 21, and this is delivered to the conveyer below, and so on. The material must be thoroughly dried beforeit is removed, and it can be sent around the apparatus more than once, if necessary. Asthe casein-curd is dropped from conveyer to conveyer it will not be scattered, but will be held in its proper place, because the air go es inward fromboth ends of the conveyers, thus keeping the material in place. The hot air rapidly evaporates the moisture which passes out through the ports 13, and, as already described, these ports are distributed so as to keep an equal amount of the air in several parts of the casing, and as a result the material is "rapidly dried, and, what is'more important, it is held loosely and in even layers, so that it is not rolled or balled up. This apparatus and method is particularly in tended for drying casein-curd; but obviously it can be used for handling materials of a similar nature which require treatment of the kind described.

Having thus'fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a series of horizontal conveyers delivering one upon another, and a casing inclosing the conveyers, the casing having air-inlets at opposite ends and having outlets arranged in the sides adjacent to the several conveyers.

2. An apparatus of the kind described,

comprising a series of horizontal conveyers delivering one upon another, and a casing inclosing the said conveyers, the said casing having air-inlets at opposite ends, and a series of outlets opposite the several conveyers, the outlets having a combined capacity approximating that of the two inlets.

3. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a series of horizontal conveyers delivering one upon another, a casing inclosing the said conveyers and provided with airinlets at the ends and with outlet-ports at the sides, and a vertically-arranged elevator collecting from the lower part of the casing and delivering directly upon the top horizontal conveyer.

LUCIUS AXTELL. Witnesses:

BYRON VAN SoHAIoK, L. G; VAN SOHAICK. 

